LAKE COUNTY— He’s a frontline worker as a practicing emergency physician in Sonoma County while also serving as Interim Public Health Officer for Lake County. Despite his challenging dual role in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Charlie Evans, over the summer, set aside some time to join his son, Dan, and 14 other volunteers from the United States, Canada and Chile on a grueling walk in Africa. The goal of the Tembea Na Mimi (Walk with Me in Swahili) group was to walk 160 miles across Kenya and raise $160,000 to benefit an orphanage called Chiri Children’s Home at the Lalmba Chiri Health Center in Ethiopia. Chiri is home to children whose mothers died at the health center or who spent their days begging in order to survive.
Tembea Na Mimi is an annual fundraiser sponsored by Lalmba, (African term for a Place for Hope) a U.S.-based, nonprofit, volunteer organization that’s been bringing primary health care to impoverished communities in Africa and striving to ensure vulnerable children have the ability to go to school.
Evans, 66, his 38-year-old math professor son, and their co-walkers, all between the ages of 15 and 68, along with 14 drovers and 30 camels, began their walk in Narok, four hours away from Nairobi, and completed their walk in 10 days. At last check, the walk had raised sponsorships and donations totaling more than $190,000, exceeding the goal beyond expectation. The funds raised will go toward completing various projects, including walkways, retaining walls, gutters and trenches; building repairs and upgrades; a learning resource center/library; kitchen, secure water source; and dormitories for girls and boys.
“From Narok, we went through the Masai Mara National Park and around the Mara and then on (to Matoso) on Lake Victoria,” Evans said, describing the Great Rift Valley as easy-to-difficult terrain. “We walked through savannas, overlands, trails and roads bushwhacking most of the time. Some days, we walked 10 miles, other days we did 20. It was an amazing experience. We slept by the distant roar of lions at night and walked through herds of giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, antelopes, and gazelles by day. We had an encounter with elephants, rhinos, and cheetahs. We had 14 drovers who were Masai, Turkana, or Samburu warriors. They led us through the outback and kept us safe. We had rain seven out of 10 days, which was challenging at times. On two nights, we were overrun by safari ants –they come out with the rain. They bite (with a sting) but no venom. We brought our own tents and camped each night, sleeping on an air mattress. We had a lot of goat meat, grains, rice, beans and fresh fruit. People who supplied food to the camels were excellent cooks.”
And, despite the difference in ages, the group had no problems keeping a positive morale, Evans noted.
Close to the end of their journey, the walkers were treated to a surprise. “As we approached a village about five miles from Matoso, we could hear singing, and as we got closer we were surrounded by all the children from the Matoso orphanage, dressed in their purple and white school uniforms waving flags and singing. They were all happy to see us and expressed overwhelming gratitude. Individually, they were inquisitive and articulate. Their positive excitement and optimism for their future made the trip for me.”
Most of the 40 Matoso orphans lost their parents to HIV/AIDS.
Evan’s latest walk in Africa is not his first. He participated in the 2019 Lalmba walk, which marked his return to Kenya after some 30 years. “It’s very rewarding to go back where you had worked and still have friends,” said the graduate of UC Berkeley and the medical school of UC San Francisco, where Evans completed his board exams in family medicine and emergency medicine. “I was in Kenya from 1988-1990, looking for an opportunity to use my new-found medical skills in a place that had none.”
At that time, Evans helped Lalmba start a clinic in Matoso at the end of a road on the shore of Lake Victoria 10 miles from the Tanzania border. “It was poorer than poor with no electricity, no running water and no gas-powered motors other than our Land Rover,” Evans said. “A six-room clinic was built as well as quarters for staff that were very basic. There was no refrigeration other than the one for vaccines.”
Today the clinic is staffed by Kenyans and has “grown dramatically. “A second clinic opened in a neighboring village to ease the walking burden on patients,” Evans continued. “We saw 80 patients a day between 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The clinic provides care to the local people, including maternity care and HIV care. HIV consultation is done with the University of Maryland via internet to access HIV specialists to keep patients on the best regimen of medications.”
“During the 30 years of development, many seeds were planted that have transformed a lakeside village into a community of hope and opportunity,” Evans said. “The jacaranda seeds we planted grew into a towering shade grove. The social seeds of knowledge and training turned into a community care network with clinics, schools, cooperatives and an orphanage that has transformed the region.”
Asked if he would make another trip to Africa, Evans responded, “Absolutely. I plan to return with Lalmba in the winter to do some work with their project in Ethiopia. The project is a medical clinic that’s getting started. Currently, they have no physicians, but do have some nurses. I would work in an advisory capacity to assist on upgrading the medical care to the village there.”
More information about Lalmba, their services and fundraising efforts can be found at www.lalmba.org. The website indicates not one penny of the money raised for this adventure, pays for the adventure. The cost is paid for by each walker.
Evans described his trip as “extraordinary.” “The COVID restrictions were tough – it took 26 hours to fly into Nairobi,” Evans said. “Our region was in lockdown just before we came with 20% of those tested, testing positive. Only 2.5% of Kenyans are vaccinated…no vaccine available to them. The vaccine they do get is consumed immediately. Some people offer bribes to get shunted to the front of the line. The elderly and health care workers are given priority for the vaccine.”
Until he goes on his winter mission, Evans plans to continue to help out as public health officer in the county “to meet the need,” while the search for a permanent one is ongoing. He commented, “In my brief time as Interim Public Health Officer of Lake County, I am struck by how hard-working and dedicated the staff members are. They are willing to take calls at all hours and willing to go the extra mile to do what is best for the citizens of the county.”
